All posts tagged Family wealth

Twenty-nine states have “filial support” laws on the books that could be used to go after patient’s families for unpaid long-term-care bills. We described one case in Pennsylvania, the main state where health-care providers have started using such a law, in last weekend’s Family Value column, “Are You on the Hook for Mom’s Nursing-Home Bill?” The question many people in other states asked, of course: What are the 29 states? We’ve got a full list, after the jump. Read More »

Even many well-off families think their kids should shoulder a portion of their college costs.

Almost three-quarters (72%) of “affluent” families think their children should contribute, according to a survey of 1,000 parents with at least $250,000 in investable assets by Mathew Greenwald & Associates for asset manager Legg Mason that was conducted in March and released Wednesday.

The majority thought their children should contribute a small portion of the total, while close to one-third thought they should pay for up to half. But 7% thought their children should pay for most of their college education, and 2% believed the children should foot the entire bill.

Why do parents want their children to be on the hook? Most (63%) said they want to make sure their kids take college seriously; others (34%) said they want them to learn to be responsible. Read More »

Syracuse University students listen to J.P. Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon at their 2010 graduation.

Baby boomers appear to be sacrificing their own retirements for the sake of their children, even though their children are, in most cases, adults, according to a study released this morning.

Ameriprise Financial in 2007 surveyed three generations—boomers, their children and their parents—and learned that less than half of boomers (44%) were trying to save for retirement while also providing support for their children and parents.

Fast forward to December 2011: The portion of boomers saving for their own retirement has fallen to one in four (24%)—but they’re still helping out their families. More than half (58%) are assisting their aging parents, including helping them pay for groceries (22%), medical expenses (15%) or utility bills (14%).

“It’s disturbing that people are still providing the same, intense level of support, up or down, and they’re five years closer to retirement,” says Suzanna de Baca, Ameriprise’s vice president of wealth strategies. “This is not registering with boomers.” Read More »

The CDs are FDIC-insured up to $250,000, but there is some risk with corporate bonds: The issuer could default. But the bonds offering death puts are investment grade, meaning they are among the highest rated, so the risk is minimal.

The death puts alleviate a worry: If the retiree dies before the bond or CD matures, the heir can still redeem it for face value.

To retirees looking for alternatives to low-interest bank accounts, such accounts are providing some relief. Read More »

Inherited individual retirement accounts can ensnare families in a number of problems, as detailed in last weekend’sFamily Value column.

But there are advantages when the accounts are done right: Heirs get to stretch withdrawals from an inherited IRA across their own life expectancies, meaning the assets could potentially increase in value, tax-deferred, for decades.

What about inherited Roth IRAs and 401(k) accounts, a number of readers want to know? Do they have the same advantages?

But life expectancies are getting longer, too, so if you’re comparison shopping, a “shared-care” rider may be something to consider. Here’s how it works: Each spouse has an individual benefit, but if one spouse goes through all of it, he or she could tap into the other spouse’s pool of money. And, if one spouse dies without using up the benefit, the surviving spouse could tap it.

Dale and Carolyn Miller, 70 and 67, respectively, are retired farmers in New Richland, Minn., who bought such coverage through Genworth last year. Their motivation? Watching Mr. Miller’s father spend five years in a nursing home, and worrying that if they had to do so, their son couldn’t hold on to the family farm. “We felt that [the shared-care option] would be a good way to save our farm to pass on to our son,” Mr. Miller says. Read More »

Medicaid is tightening up its restrictions for families hoping to use it to help pay long-term-care costs. Some states no longer let older adults buy annuities and then exclude those assets when they apply for financial assistance. Others are more aggressively recovering from the estates of people whose care costs were paid by Medicaid.

But there’s another layer of rules for families in which the person hoping to get government help paying for long-term care has a spouse who is still living independently. States are treating such “well” spouses in dramatically different ways.

The limit in Texas, for example, is based on monthly income that could be generated using current interest rates. At the moment, the well spouse could hold on to a generous $1.2 million, says John Ross IV, a lawyer in Texarkana, Texas, who specializes in elder-law issues. By contrast, Arkansas has stuck with the federal maximum of about $113,000. Read More »

Same-sex couples can get married, at this point, in six states and the District of Columbia. But that doesn’t mean their personal finances have gotten much easier.

The problem remains the same: Under the Defense of Marriage Act of 1996, the federal government doesn’t recognize same-sex marriage, even if a state government does. At the moment, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont and Washington, D.C., allow same-sex marriage.

In California, a federal appeals court last week struck down the state’s voter-mandated ban on gay marriages. New Jersey’s Senate passed a bill earlier today that would allow it, although Gov. Chris Christie has said he will veto it. And Washington state Gov. Christine Gregoire is expected to sign a law allowing gay marriage later today. Read More »

Our Family Value column this past weekend described a number of new online games and tools designed to introduce basic financial concepts to kids and teenagers.

We belatedly learned about an award-winning app called Savings Spree, for children ages 7 and up. It teaches kids “how the daily lifestyle choices that they make can add up to big savings or big expenses.”

It was created by Money Savvy Generation, a company started by an investment-banker mom to develop and sell products to help families and educators teach children personal-finance skills. The app costs $2.99. Read More »